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EDWARD J. BROOKS, OE EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR To E. J. BROOKS a Oo., OE EEw YORK, E. Y.

SEAL AND TAG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 235,668, dated December` 21, 1880.

' Application tiled November 3, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD J. BROOKS, a citizen Ot' the United States, residing at East Orange, in the State ot' New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Seals and Tags, ot' which the following is a specitication.

` The present invention relates to the manufacture and use ot' seals and tags for railway- 1o car doors, baggage, packages of valuable merchandise, Ste.; and it relates, primarily, to that class of seals in which shackles of wire or cord are used.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a superior hard-metal substitute for the soft-metal seal-disks commonly used as means for` uniting the ends of such shackles, the same 'to be so constructed that it may be integral with the tag Orshackle, and so that 2o it may be secured by a simple pressing act,

similar to the operation of pressing lead sealdisks.

To this end the invention consists in the combination of a compressible coiled sealingsleeve of brittle tin, or its quivalent, and a shackle end adapted to be locked therein by pressing said sleeve, as hereinafter set forth.

Another object of the said invention is to furnish a combined seal and tag adapted for 3o use with my detective shackle-wire, or any wire or cord which may be preferred; to which end it consists in a sheet-metal seal-tag having acoiled sealing sleeve or sleeves integral therewith, and appropriate lettering or marks, as

hereinafter described.

Another object of the said invention-is to furnish a combined seal and tag which will provide for securing both ends ot' the shackle simultaneously by a single pressing opera- 40 tion; and to this end it consists in a sheetmetal seal-tag having a longitudinal coiled sealing-sleeve integral therewith, open at both ends to receive both ends of a shackle wire or cord, as hereinafter specified.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, Figure 1 is a per-- spective view of the two parts of an impressed seal and tag illustrating this invention. Fig. 2 is a face view of the same pressed, illustrating its application to a car-door fastening. 5o Fig. 3 is a back view of the pressed SeaLtag, and Fig. 4 is a section thereof on the line 4. 4, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an elevation of the two parts ot' another seal and tag unpressed, illustrating certain inodications; and Figs. 6 and 7 are 55 face views of impressed seals and tags, illustrating other modifications. An end view is appended to Fig. 6.

Iiike letters ot' reference indicate corresponding parts in the several ligures. 6.o

The combined seal and tag shown by Figs.

l to 4, inclusive, consists of a shackle-wire, S, and a sheet-metal seal-tag, T. The wire S is of the description known as my detective wire, patented July 3, 1877, with the ends of the wire cut so as to locate a pair ofthe holding-enlargements at its extremities, and so as to have ends a c of proper length turned inward in lille with each other. The tag T is a new article ot' manufacture, consisting of a 7o suitable piece ofI brittle tin, for example, having a horizontal sealing sleeve, l), integral therewith, and open at both ends, and provided on its face with appropriate lettering or marks c, indicating, for example, the name of the railroad on which the seal-tag is' used, the station at which the same is applied, and the place of destination.

In applying this device to a car-door or other object one end of the shackle S is passed 8o through a fastening -staple, s, or like part adapted to receive it, and both ends a a are then inserted into the respective ends of the sealing-sleeve b of the seal-tag T. The latter is next pressed so as to look the shackle ends 8 5 therein and simultaneously impress the same with distinguishing-marks, as indicated in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, the holding-enlargements on the shackle ends being located between the points of compression, so as to be retained by 9o them.

S2, Fig. 5, represents a shackle of my indented wire patented June 27, 1876, bent so that its ends c2 a2 are separated loutparallel; and T2 represents a sheet-metal seal-tag, hav- 95 ing a pair of sealing-sleeves, b2 b2, at its vertical edges, with lettering or marks c2 between.

T3, Fig. .6, represents what maybe termed a shackle-tag7 made of a single piece of sheet metal, with a small tubular threading end, a3, at one extremity, a longitudinal sealing-sleeve, b3, at its other extremity, and lettering or marks c3 on its face. y

S4, Fig. 7, represents a shackle of plain wire having a single threading end, a4, in the form of a tight spiral coil, with a sealing-sleeve, b4, formed by a large tapering coil, at its other eX- tremity; and T4 represents a return-tag havl ing appropriate lettering or marks c4, and combined with the shackle by means of holes d d in the tag to receive the wire.

A shackle having a sealing-sleeve integral therewith, as illustrated by S4, may be made either of Wire or of suitable sheet metal, and may be used with or Without a tag; but a separate tag, such as shown at T4, forms no part of my present invention.

The combined seal and tag shown in Fig. 5 and that shown in Fig. 6 are used in substantially the same manner as the one rst described. The absence of distinct holdin g-enlargements on the threading ends of the shackles obviates any special location thereof in the sealing-sleeves, and also obviates confinin g the compression to isolated points; but narrow transverse indentations are considered the most effective form. The sealing-sleeveof the shackle S4, Fig. 7, may be pressed or stamped in like manner after being applied.

My seal-tags (apart from the lettering or marks thereon) are intended to be made by machinery out of brittle tin or other hard sheet metal by cutting the same into blanks of any desired shapes and sizes and ceiling the same t0 form the sealing-sleeves. The latter should be of several coils if thin metal be used, care being taken to preclude opening them after they are pressed Without injuring or defacin g the tags, so as to insure detection. They can be so manufactured by machinery already in the market for making buckles and other arti-v cles, the same being capable of adaptation by slight or ordinary changes to the production of seal-tags of either of the forms above described.

The lettering or marks, or any part thereof, such as station-numbers, may be stamped in the. metal during the shaping process; but I prefer to paint the faces of the tags red, or 0f any preferred color, to form a background, and to print the lettering or marks thereon in a contrasting color, or to print the same rst and then shellac them.

Any suitable press or stamp may be used for compressing the sealing-sleeves, and the impression thereof with distinguishing-marks may be omitted, owing to the marks on the tags; but additional marks of a distinctive character are readily formed at the pressing or stamping operation, or subsequent thereto, and afford a double security.

The following is what I claim as new and of my present invention, and desire to secure by .Letters Patent, namely:

1. rIhe combination'of aeompressible coiled sealing-sleeve of hard metal and a shackle end adapted to be held therein when said sleeve is pressed, substantially as herein specified.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a sheetmetal seal-tag having a coiled sealing-sleeve integral therewith, and provided with appropriate lettering or marks, substantially as herein described.

3. A sheet-metal seal-tag having a horizontal coiled sealing-sleeve integral therewith, and open at both ends to receive both ends of a shackle wire or cord, substantially as herein specified, for the purpose set forth.

EDWARD J. BROOKS.

'Vitnesses:

ARTEMAs B. SMITH, P. E. FARNsWoRTH. 

